Wagashi
Wagashi, or Japanese confections, have been somewhat of an obsession for me as of late. My latest efforts were a revisiting of daifuku, rice flour dumplings filled with red bean paste.
In addition to plain old daifuku, you can color the dough and add to the filling to spice things up. Food coloring is an option, but I like doing things the old fashioned way, so that meant using natural dyes.
First off, I tried substituting the bean water that the azuki beans had soaked in while making the red bean paste. This has a nice light red color to it. When mixed with the rice flower, however, I ended up with a dough that just looked kind of fleshy. I added some bits of fresh strawberries to the filling, which helped the taste, if little else.
These daifuku are more than a bit misshapen, a testament to my impatience.
My next try was green tea daifuku, which are supposed to be colored with maccha (green tea powder). I had none, so I just brewed up some green tea to use for the water. As the picture reveals, it had little to no effect on color (and didn't alter the taste either).
This batch is smaller and better formed. It's a good idea not to make too much when dealing with desserts like this. They don't refrigerate well and if you let them sit the bean paste will ferment, which is a bad time.
If you want to make your own daifuku, it's really quite easy.
Daifuku (makes 12 daifuku)
INGREDIENTS
Filling
Store-bought red bean paste or make some yourself if you've got a couple hours to kill.
Dough
2/3 C water
1/4 C sugar
1 C glutenous rice flour
sweet potato starch (or similar) for dusting
Shape some balls of red bean paste (1/2 t to 1 t, depending on how big you want your daifuku)
Set these aside.
Dust your work surface with the sweet potato starch. (the dough is very sticky)
Boil the water in a small sauce pan and add the sugar. Stir until fully dissolved.
Lower heat to medium/low.
Add rice flour, a little bit at a time, stirring constantly. Continue stirring until the dough is no longer lumpy.
Turn out the dough onto your work surface. Let it cool to the point where you can work it with your hands.
Dust your hands with sweet potato starch. (not kidding about the stickiness)
Divide the dough into 12 equal parts by hand.
Flatten each part into a disc.
Place a ball of filling onto each disc and stretch the dough around it. Shape the closed daifuku into a roundish shape.
Red Bean Paste (Tsubushi an, the chunky red bean paste. Koshi an, the smooth kind, requires much more work. Don't know about you, but I prefer the chunky kind)
INGREDIENTS
1 package azuki beans (about 1 C of dry beans, I think. I've only ever seen one size package)
water
sugar, to taste
Put the beans in a large sauce pan, cover with water, and let them soak overnight.
Bring the beans to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 1.5 hours.
Drain the beans using a sieve or whatever you have available.
Mash the beans with a potato masher.
Add the sugar (1.5-2 C should be good. Taste as your go.) and continue to mash/mix.
The sugar will have made the mixture more liquidy, so heat it over medium heat (I usually use a wok) until enough of the water has evaporated to give it a pasty consistency. Let it cool to room temperature before refrigerating (this will take hours).
Time consuming, yes. I find it very satisfying though.
In addition to plain old daifuku, you can color the dough and add to the filling to spice things up. Food coloring is an option, but I like doing things the old fashioned way, so that meant using natural dyes.
First off, I tried substituting the bean water that the azuki beans had soaked in while making the red bean paste. This has a nice light red color to it. When mixed with the rice flower, however, I ended up with a dough that just looked kind of fleshy. I added some bits of fresh strawberries to the filling, which helped the taste, if little else.
These daifuku are more than a bit misshapen, a testament to my impatience.
My next try was green tea daifuku, which are supposed to be colored with maccha (green tea powder). I had none, so I just brewed up some green tea to use for the water. As the picture reveals, it had little to no effect on color (and didn't alter the taste either).
This batch is smaller and better formed. It's a good idea not to make too much when dealing with desserts like this. They don't refrigerate well and if you let them sit the bean paste will ferment, which is a bad time.
If you want to make your own daifuku, it's really quite easy.
Daifuku (makes 12 daifuku)
INGREDIENTS
Filling
Store-bought red bean paste or make some yourself if you've got a couple hours to kill.
Dough
2/3 C water
1/4 C sugar
1 C glutenous rice flour
sweet potato starch (or similar) for dusting
Shape some balls of red bean paste (1/2 t to 1 t, depending on how big you want your daifuku)
Set these aside.
Dust your work surface with the sweet potato starch. (the dough is very sticky)
Boil the water in a small sauce pan and add the sugar. Stir until fully dissolved.
Lower heat to medium/low.
Add rice flour, a little bit at a time, stirring constantly. Continue stirring until the dough is no longer lumpy.
Turn out the dough onto your work surface. Let it cool to the point where you can work it with your hands.
Dust your hands with sweet potato starch. (not kidding about the stickiness)
Divide the dough into 12 equal parts by hand.
Flatten each part into a disc.
Place a ball of filling onto each disc and stretch the dough around it. Shape the closed daifuku into a roundish shape.
Red Bean Paste (Tsubushi an, the chunky red bean paste. Koshi an, the smooth kind, requires much more work. Don't know about you, but I prefer the chunky kind)
INGREDIENTS
1 package azuki beans (about 1 C of dry beans, I think. I've only ever seen one size package)
water
sugar, to taste
Put the beans in a large sauce pan, cover with water, and let them soak overnight.
Bring the beans to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 1.5 hours.
Drain the beans using a sieve or whatever you have available.
Mash the beans with a potato masher.
Add the sugar (1.5-2 C should be good. Taste as your go.) and continue to mash/mix.
The sugar will have made the mixture more liquidy, so heat it over medium heat (I usually use a wok) until enough of the water has evaporated to give it a pasty consistency. Let it cool to room temperature before refrigerating (this will take hours).
Time consuming, yes. I find it very satisfying though.